FHSU Maker Van

FHSU takes science education on the road

As a child did you wonder how things work? Did you take them apart just to see what made them tick?

The Fort Hays State University Maker Van is a traveling discovery laboratory that gives curious children, and those who are still curious children at heart, the opportunity to engage in hands-on experiential learning.

“The Maker Van’s purpose is to meet people where they are in rural communities and ignite passions for science and mathematics in learners,” said Dr. Paul Adams, Dean of the College of Education and professor of physics.

Science and math education fuels learners’ enthusiasm for investigation, experimentation and love of learning. There is a need nationwide for youth to have access to quality STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning programs and to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM. These are interdisciplinary skills, the kind of skills that will be essential in helping future generations solve the most pressing challenges in Kansas, our nation and our world.

The Maker Van, a mobile extension of the FHSU MakerSpace, is just one way Fort Hays State is innovating to meet the need for qualified STEM educators in Kansas and leading the statewide effort to motivate students’ interest in future careers in the STEM field.

A sense of urgency about the state of American leadership in STEM spread across the nation about a decade ago when we began losing ground to other countries in the areas of student testing and performance. This keen focus on STEM continued to build into a nationwide initiative that now transcends political lines.

In 2010, President Barack Obama made STEM education and the need for qualified teachers a priority in his Educate to Innovate campaign.

This laid the groundwork for the establishment of a 10-year goal designed to move the U.S. back to the forefront in STEM. In January 2019, President Donald Trump took action to provide greater nationwide access to STEM resources by encouraging broadband deployment in previously undeserved rural communities.

Both of these initiatives focused on addressing the gap in STEM education opportunities, accessibility and U.S. workforce needs.

It is predicted that employers will be unable to fill 2.5 million STEMrelated positions this year, including 2,500 computing jobs in Kansas alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistic reports that the divide between our skilled labor pool and the nationwide need for career-ready professionals with technology skills is growing every day.

This significant gap is evident in Kansas and throughout the U.S. Of the six million jobs open across the nation, approximately 500,000 require some experience with computer systems. Less than half of elementary and high schools are able to provide courses in computer science.

STEM jobs are good jobs with a higher than average salary in the U.S. jobs market. Careers in STEM are jobs that typically weather economic downturns better than those in any other career sector. This provides the stability necessary to raise a family and improve the quality of life opportunities in local communities.

This nationwide push for quality STEM education helped to fuel Fort Hays State’s initiatives in science and math education and the ultimate creation of the Maker Van.

Adams said the idea of the Maker Van goes back to the 1980s.

“Maurice Witten (FHSU physics professor emeritus) and I talked about how nice it would be to get a van to use for science outreach, and we worked on writing grants to fund the project,” Adams said.

Enter the Maker Van

“That was a dream of ours,” Adams said. “Eventually, we were able to fulfill that vision.”

The dream of the Maker Van came became a reality through the generosity of alumnus, Mary Schweitzer. Mary received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education from FHSU in 1965 and 1968. She is a longtime contributor to many initiatives at FHSU that encourage youth, especially young women, to enter science and math fields.

“When you see students manipulate something or figure out a math problem, their eyes light up,” Schweitzer said. “Seeing that satisfaction is just one of the reasons why I’m such a big supporter of all FHSU is doing to enhance student science- and math-related careers.”

“Mary’s contributions to science initiatives play a major role in what we are able to accomplish through the Science and Mathematics Education Institute and Maker Van,” Adams said. “Her generosity is invaluable in helping us expose pre-college-aged students to opportunities that exist in science- and math-related careers.”

G.G. Launchbaugh, Science Outreach Coordinator for the MakerSpace and Maker Van, and a team of FHSU students with a passion for science and math education, lead the educational events and activities.

You can spot them traveling across the state in the Maker Van – a white Ford transit van with brilliant graphics and embedded photos that offer a preview of a vehicle payload that can include things like 3D printers, computers, tools and equipment for robotics and a variety of items for scientific experiments.

Photo courtesy of the Maker Space team

“I load it up with different things, depending on what I’m going to do that day,” said Launchbaugh, who averages two outings a week.

When the Maker Van arrives, learners may have the opportunity to launch homemade bottle rockets in an activity that brings fun to the study of Newton’s laws of motion.

Another day, learners might roll up their sleeves and investigate conduction while mixing up and forming saltdough electric circuits that illuminate a small LED bulb, thus turning on the light to the science of electricity.

“I would have loved something like this when I was young,” said MacKenzie Foster, an FHSU senior majoring in mathematics from Topeka who helps with the Maker Van. “I like that we’re making science and technology accessible to a lot of these schools that don’t have this opportunity. To see the kids get excited about science is thrilling to me.”

With increasing pressure on school districts to meet testing requirements and budget limitations, field trips are often limited. The Maker Van team provides an accessible, exciting and affordable way to deliver experiential learning to classrooms across the state.

This learning opportunity isn’t limited to just the Maker Van team’s visit. That part is only the beginning of a learning experience that can continue long after the vehicle departs. These activities have a lasting effect that teachers can revisit in future lesson plans every day and across disciplines.

The van also serves as the portable high-altitude launch platform for Fort Hays State’s Science and Math Education Institute (SMEI) which is the umbrella for many STEM focused initiatives at FHSU including the MakerSpace, Maker Van, Noyce scholarships, Lego Robotics, Digital Planetarium, summer camps and many continuing education workshops. A payload with various research materials and often a camera is attached to air balloons and carried aloft. The Maker Van serves as a mobile home base while Launchbaugh and the students track the balloons using a radio transmitter and GPS.

The van can also hold helium tanks and serve as a portable laboratory for analyzing changes in altitude, temperature and air currents that move a balloon through the atmosphere. STEM activities like ballooning are interdisciplinary endeavors that encourage learning and critical thinking in more than just math and geography. This investigation also includes communication, problemsolving, and physics.

Foster, who has been with the Maker Van from the start said, “My favorite thing is ballooning. With the ballooning project, you can learn as much as you want. One kid can be doing coding, another can be learning about solar panels, and yet another can be using it to research biology.”

She also discussed the valuable lessons she has learned in the field with the Maker Van. She believes these are lessons that she would never have learned in a classroom since this approach requires nimbleness when adjusting to unpredictable challenges like our volatile Kansas weather.

Foster witnessed a balloon launch on her campus visit as a high school student. It was this experience that sparked her interest in attending Fort Hays State. She went on to attend the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science – the state’s premier early college program for high school juniors and seniors on the FHSU campus – for two years. She then decided to complete her bachelor’s degree at Fort Hays State. While still undecided about what she will do next, one thing is for sure, she will continue to inspire the next generation of STEM learners.

“It’s easy to see STEM as just a buzzword or trend, but it is so much more. STEM learning is vital to everyday life. When I was a child, I didn’t have anyone outside of my family to encourage my love for science and math. I see now that it is easy to do. Anyone can encourage a child to find a love for science and math. I will always remember what an impact that first balloon launch made on me, and I will always look for ways to give back and encourage others to share a love for science and math.”

The Maker Van, as well as the MakerSpace in Forsyth Library, are funded solely from grant money and private donations. To support these programs that support science and math education for students and communities visit foundation.fhsu.edu/donate to make a donation.